Dispensing tray for wrapping sheets



Sept. 8, 1959 w R STREMKE ET AL 2,903,261

DISPENSING TRAY FOR WRAPPING SHEETS Original Filed June 1, 1954 INVENTORS WILL/4M F2 57'EEMKE wmuqm F. .SresmxfiJlZ Pam/9M E. Pezazzsz/ W 4PM \4 M United States Patent DISPENSING TRAY FOR WRAPPING SHEETS William F. Stremke, William F. Stremke, Jr., and Roman R. Pazderski, Milwaukee, Wis.

Original application June 1, 1954, Serial No. 433,664,

now Patent No. 2,840,962, dated July 1, 1958. Dizisdfdaaind this application August 28, 1957, Serial No.

2 Claims. (Cl. 271- 61) This application relates to a dispensing tray for sheets used to wrap packages. The present application is a division of application 433,664, filed June 1, 1954, now Patent 2,840,962, granted July 1, 1958, and directed to a wrapping apparatus.

The present tray comprises a bottom plate which is desirably conformed in shape to underlie the desired wrapping sheet, and which has only two side flanges, the other two margins of the bottom plate being unobstructed. Wrapping sheets as currently used are square, rectangular or parallelogram in form. Moreover, the side flanges desirably increase in height from a minimum at the corner of the bottom plate from which they diverge and to a maximum height at the diagonally opposite corners of the bottom plate at which they terminate.

A bracket at the corner from which the side flanges diverge has a portion spanning the tray and provided with a threaded opening in which a threaded piercer is adjustable. The piercer comprises a screw having a handle for its rotation and it terminates in a downwardly directed point whereby, in the course of its rotation, it may be caused to penetrate wrapping sheets mounted on the bottom plate of the tray. Desirably the portion of the piercer which penetrates wrapping sheets has the form of a drill bit to facilitate its penetration of the pack of sheets.

As disclosed in the companion application above identified, the tray is a separate article of manufacture freely adjustable upon a wrapping table.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wrapping apparatus upon which the tray of the present invention is illustrated in a position in which it is used.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the tray in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the tray shown in Fig. 2.

The tray 11 comprises a bottom plate 12 of appropriate size and shape to receive a stack of wrapping sheets 10. These are desirably square for the purposes of the invention disclosed in the above entitled parent application, and the tray is made slightly larger than the wrapping sheets as clearly appears in Figs. 2 and 3.

Two adjoining edges of the bottom plate 12 have upstanding flanges 13 which restrain the wrapping sheets from lateral movement on the bottom plate. These flanges or tray sides 13 have very little height at the tray corner 14 to which they converge, whereby to expose sheet edges adjacent the corner but at the diagonally opposite corners 15, 16 where the side flanges terminate,

they extend desirably to a level above the normal height of the pack of sheets 10.

The tray corner 14 is spanned by the plate 19 of an angular bracket 20. This plate has a screw-threaded aperture in which the thumb screw 18 is threaded to overlie the corner portions 9 of stack 10. The thumb screw carries a piercer 17 constituting a downward extension thereof and desirably comprising a drill bit of relatively small diameter, being of considerably less cross section than the thumb screw as illustrated. A reinforcing corner plate 21 is desirably attached to the under side of the tray bottom plate 12 to underlie the path of movement of the piercer 17.

In operation, the piercer 17 is retracted upwardly by rotating the thumb screw 18 upwardly in its threaded connection with the bracket 19, 20. The thumb piece 22 provides a handle for manipulating the piercer. When there is sufiicient clearance between the piercer 17 and the bottom of the tray, a pack of the wrapping sheets 10 is laid on the tray and registered with corner 14 thereof by pushing the sheets against the side flanges 13 which converge to that corner. The handle 22 is then used to turn the thumb screw to advance the piercer 17 downwardly to cut or push its way through the sheets, the sheets being held by the sides 13 from displacement during this operation.

In use, a package to be wrapped is placed on the uppermost sheet in the corner of the tray which lacks sides. The uppermost sheet is torn from the piercer by the operator whose fingers have access to the edges of the sheets exposed at the low ends of the tray sides 13. The remaining sheets continue to be held in position by the piercer 17 and the flanges 13 and the tray base 12. The package is wrapped as described in Patent 2,840,962 aforesaid and removed from the tray to expose the next sheet for wrapping the next package.

We claim:

1. A package wrapping tray from which a pack of sheets is dispensed in the course of wrapping packages, said tray comprising a sheet supporting plate constituting a parallelogram in plan and having diagonally opposite corners, sheet retaining means in one of said corners and upwardly extending sides along the margins of said plate which converge to said one corner, the margins of said plate which converge to the other said corner being upwardly unobstructed to accept a package to be wrapped without interference and regardless of the height of the sheet pack therein, said sides varying in height from a relatively low level adjacent the said one corner for exposure of the edges of the sheets adjacent said one corner to a relatively higher level remote from said one corner.

2. The device of claim 1 in which said sheet retaining means comprises a drill bit sheet penetrating point having a screw-threaded shank, said tray having a corner bracket in which said shank is threaded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,027,701 Deming May 28, 1912 2,593,762 Jones Apr. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 233,537 Great Britain May 14, 1925 401,620 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1933 

